The Fallacy of Advanced Maternal Age
Both maternal and paternal age play a role in fertility and pregnancy risks, and these risks increase gradually with age, not suddenly. Historically, it made sense to establish a specific age at which the benefits associated with prenatal screening and diagnostic procedures outweighed the risks. Based on a number of factors, maternal age 35 was deemed the appropriate time for women to consider screening for chromosomal changes, such as the extra copy that leads to Down syndrome. While it's true that maternal age contributes to a higher likelihood of conceiving a baby with Down syndrome, it remains a fact that most babies with this condition are born to women of younger ages. Young women of "average risk" are having more babies, and they're not typically offered the level of prenatal scrutiny that women age 35 and older receive.
